Friday, August 24, 2012

Save the Zogs

"Four frightened Zogs have left the safety of
their planet and are floating around in space. The Duplicators, a band
of space travelers with the ability to imitate others, have infiltrated
the floating Zogs. This is making the rescue mission very difficult.

Fortunately,
the Zogs are very clever. They can assemble themselves along a straight
line path. The Duplicators cannot exist on this path. If the rescue team can determine the
equation of this line, then the Zogs will be saved. The Duplicators
will be left behind.

To rescue the Zogs, you need to learn as
much as possible about linear equations and the lines they create. What
happens when the slope is zero? What effect does the y intercept have on
the position of the line? The more you know, the more Zogs you can
save."

The game begins with simple horizontal and
vertical lines, builds to equations with non-zero slopes passing through
the origin, and ends with equations that have both non-zero slopes and
y-intercepts. A tracking tool enables students to rotate and move a line
into position to help them visualize whether or not the line passes
through the correct Zogs. Once the visual is in place, students must
then identify the equation the describes the line.

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About the Author

Colleen King is a math educator with 15 years experience working with K-12 students in a variety of settings. Colleen publishes MathPlayground.com and develops math games, teaching tools, and learning resources that are used in classrooms throughout the world. She has presented her work at ISTE and NCTM conferences and has co-authored several teaching articles.